White Passhttp://www.skinet.com/skiing/taxonomy/term/62177/%252Ffeed
enThe Snowiest Resorts of the Season So Farhttp://www.skinet.com/skiing/photo-gallery/snowiest-resorts-season-so-far?lnk=rss&loc=white-pass
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/alpental.jpg" alt="Summit at Snoqualmie, WA" title="" width="1000" height="670" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Summit at Snoqualmie</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Summit at Snoqualmie, WA</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 91” <br>Annual snowfall average: 435” <br>Snow to date: 163”<a href="http://www.summitatsnoqualmie.com/Weather" target="_blank"><br>Go here to check the latest snowfall.</a></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/whitepass.jpg" alt="White Pass, WA" title="" width="1000" height="656" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Matt Poppoff</span></div>
<h4 class="title">White Pass, WA</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 110”<br> Annual snowfall average: 380” <br>Snow to date: 160” <br><a href="http://www.skiwhitepass.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=58&amp;Itemid=90" target="_blank">Look here for the latest numbers.</a></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/baker.jpg" alt="Mt. Baker, WA" title="" width="1000" height="748" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Mt. Baker Ski Area</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Mt. Baker, WA</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 130” <br>Annual snowfall average: 701” <br>Snow to date: 317”<p><a href="http://www.mtbaker.us/1011/snow_report/" target="_blank">Check the link for the newest stats.</a></p></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/whistler.jpg" alt="Whistler Blackcomb, B.C." title="" width="1000" height="667" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Paul Morrison</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 92” <br>Annual snowfall average: 410” <br>Snow to date : 273” <br><a href="http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/weather/snowreport/index.htm" target="_blank">Click here for the most recent information.</a></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/juliejackson.jpg" alt="Jackson Hole, WY" title="" width="1000" height="662" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Julie Weinberger</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Jackson Hole, WY</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 68”<br> Annual snowfall average: 475” <br>Snow to date: 183”<p><a href="http://jacksonhole.com/mountain-info/conditions/weather-snow-report.html" target="_blank">Look here for today's snow report.</a></p></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/silvmount.jpg" alt="Silverton Mountain, CO" title="" width="1000" height="743" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Silverton Mountain</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Silverton Mountain, CO</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 73”<br> Annual snowfall average: 400”-plus <br>Snow to date : 184”<p><a href="http://www.silvertonmountain.com/page/mountain/snow" target="_blank">Look here for the newest figures.</a></p></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/bw.jpg" alt="Big White, B.C." title="" width="1000" height="666" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Big White</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Big White, B.C.</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 71”<br> Annual snowfall average: 294” <br>Snow to date : 128” <br><a href="http://www.bigwhite.com/mountain-info/mountain-reports/daily-snow-report/" target="_blank">Click here to see the newest snow report.</a></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/eagle.jpg" alt="Eaglecrest, AK" title="" width="1000" height="750" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>David McMaster</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Eaglecrest, AK</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 93” <br>Annual snowfall average: 350” <br>Snow to date : 191”<p><a href="http://www.juneau.org/ecrestftp/MountainStatistics.php" target="_blank">Click here for the latest stats.</a></p></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/wc.jpg" alt="Wolf Creek, CO" title="" width="1000" height="750" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Wolf Creek Ski Area </span></div>
<h4 class="title">Wolf Creek, CO</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 77” <br>Annual snowfall average: 465” <br>Snow to date: 266”<p><a href="http://www.wolfcreekski.com/wolf-creek-snow-report.php" target="_blank">Click here for the snow report.</a></p></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/timberline.jpg" alt="Timberline Lodge, OR" title="" width="1000" height="668" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Timberline Lodge</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Timberline Lodge, OR</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 117” <br>Annual snowfall average: 245” <br>Snow to date: 156”<p><a href="http://www.timberlinelodge.com/conditions/" target="_blank">Click here to see today's conditions report.</a></p></div>
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http://www.skinet.com/skiing/photo-gallery/snowiest-resorts-season-so-far#commentsResortsSki CultureTravel IdeasAlaskaColorado Ski ResortsBritish ColumbiaOregonWyomingWashingtonBig WhiteEaglecrestJackson HoleMt BakerSilverton MountainSummit at Snoqualmie AlpentalTimberlineWhistler/BlackcombWhite PassWolf Creekskiing127561http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/201202/alpental.jpg127580Summit at Snoqualmie, WA
<p>Current base (mid-mountain): 91” <br>Annual snowfall average: 435” <br>Snow to date: 163”<a href="http://www.summitatsnoqualmie.com/Weather" target="_blank"><br>Go here to check the latest snowfall.</a></p>
The ten snowiest resorts in North America at this point in the season. All numbers are as of February 10.<div class="field field-type-nodereference field-field-pages">
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/alpental.jpg" alt="Summit at Snoqualmie, WA" title="" width="1000" height="670" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Summit at Snoqualmie</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Summit at Snoqualmie, WA</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 91” <br>Annual snowfall average: 435” <br>Snow to date: 163”<a href="http://www.summitatsnoqualmie.com/Weather" target="_blank"><br>Go here to check the latest snowfall.</a></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/whitepass.jpg" alt="White Pass, WA" title="" width="1000" height="656" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Matt Poppoff</span></div>
<h4 class="title">White Pass, WA</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 110”<br> Annual snowfall average: 380” <br>Snow to date: 160” <br><a href="http://www.skiwhitepass.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=58&amp;Itemid=90" target="_blank">Look here for the latest numbers.</a></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/baker.jpg" alt="Mt. Baker, WA" title="" width="1000" height="748" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Mt. Baker Ski Area</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Mt. Baker, WA</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 130” <br>Annual snowfall average: 701” <br>Snow to date: 317”<p><a href="http://www.mtbaker.us/1011/snow_report/" target="_blank">Check the link for the newest stats.</a></p></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/whistler.jpg" alt="Whistler Blackcomb, B.C." title="" width="1000" height="667" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Paul Morrison</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 92” <br>Annual snowfall average: 410” <br>Snow to date : 273” <br><a href="http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/weather/snowreport/index.htm" target="_blank">Click here for the most recent information.</a></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/juliejackson.jpg" alt="Jackson Hole, WY" title="" width="1000" height="662" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Julie Weinberger</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Jackson Hole, WY</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 68”<br> Annual snowfall average: 475” <br>Snow to date: 183”<p><a href="http://jacksonhole.com/mountain-info/conditions/weather-snow-report.html" target="_blank">Look here for today's snow report.</a></p></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/silvmount.jpg" alt="Silverton Mountain, CO" title="" width="1000" height="743" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Silverton Mountain</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Silverton Mountain, CO</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 73”<br> Annual snowfall average: 400”-plus <br>Snow to date : 184”<p><a href="http://www.silvertonmountain.com/page/mountain/snow" target="_blank">Look here for the newest figures.</a></p></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/bw.jpg" alt="Big White, B.C." title="" width="1000" height="666" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Big White</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Big White, B.C.</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 71”<br> Annual snowfall average: 294” <br>Snow to date : 128” <br><a href="http://www.bigwhite.com/mountain-info/mountain-reports/daily-snow-report/" target="_blank">Click here to see the newest snow report.</a></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/eagle.jpg" alt="Eaglecrest, AK" title="" width="1000" height="750" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>David McMaster</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Eaglecrest, AK</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 93” <br>Annual snowfall average: 350” <br>Snow to date : 191”<p><a href="http://www.juneau.org/ecrestftp/MountainStatistics.php" target="_blank">Click here for the latest stats.</a></p></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/wc.jpg" alt="Wolf Creek, CO" title="" width="1000" height="750" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Wolf Creek Ski Area </span></div>
<h4 class="title">Wolf Creek, CO</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 77” <br>Annual snowfall average: 465” <br>Snow to date: 266”<p><a href="http://www.wolfcreekski.com/wolf-creek-snow-report.php" target="_blank">Click here for the snow report.</a></p></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201202/timberline.jpg" alt="Timberline Lodge, OR" title="" width="1000" height="668" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Timberline Lodge</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Timberline Lodge, OR</h4>
<div class="caption">Current base (mid-mountain): 117” <br>Annual snowfall average: 245” <br>Snow to date: 156”<p><a href="http://www.timberlinelodge.com/conditions/" target="_blank">Click here to see today's conditions report.</a></p></div>
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gallery127580http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/201202/alpental.jpgSummit at SnoqualmieSummit at Snoqualmie, WA
<p>Current base (mid-mountain): 91” <br>Annual snowfall average: 435” <br>Snow to date: 163”<a href="http://www.summitatsnoqualmie.com/Weather" target="_blank"><br>Go here to check the latest snowfall.</a></p>
127574http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/201202/whitepass.jpgMatt PoppoffWhite Pass, WA
<p>Current base (mid-mountain): 110”<br> Annual snowfall average: 380” <br>Snow to date: 160” <br><a href="http://www.skiwhitepass.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=58&amp;Itemid=90" target="_blank">Look here for the latest numbers.</a></p>
127564http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/201202/baker.jpgMt. Baker Ski AreaMt. Baker, WA
<p>Current base (mid-mountain): 130” <br>Annual snowfall average: 701” <br>Snow to date: 317”</p><p><a href="http://www.mtbaker.us/1011/snow_report/" target="_blank">Check the link for the newest stats.</a></p>
127575http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/201202/whistler.jpgPaul MorrisonWhistler Blackcomb, B.C.
<p>Current base (mid-mountain): 92” <br>Annual snowfall average: 410” <br>Snow to date : 273” <br><a href="http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/weather/snowreport/index.htm" target="_blank">Click here for the most recent information.</a></p>
127579http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/201202/juliejackson.jpgJulie WeinbergerJackson Hole, WY
<p>Current base (mid-mountain): 68”<br> Annual snowfall average: 475” <br>Snow to date: 183”</p><p><a href="http://jacksonhole.com/mountain-info/conditions/weather-snow-report.html" target="_blank">Look here for today's snow report.</a></p>
127578http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/201202/silvmount.jpgSilverton MountainSilverton Mountain, CO
<p>Current base (mid-mountain): 73”<br> Annual snowfall average: 400”-plus <br>Snow to date : 184”</p><p><a href="http://www.silvertonmountain.com/page/mountain/snow" target="_blank">Look here for the newest figures.</a></p>
127573http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/201202/bw.jpgBig WhiteBig White, B.C.
<p>Current base (mid-mountain): 71”<br> Annual snowfall average: 294” <br>Snow to date : 128” <br><a href="http://www.bigwhite.com/mountain-info/mountain-reports/daily-snow-report/" target="_blank">Click here to see the newest snow report.</a></p>
127581http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/201202/eagle.jpgDavid McMasterEaglecrest, AK
<p>Current base (mid-mountain): 93” <br>Annual snowfall average: 350” <br>Snow to date : 191”</p><p><a href="http://www.juneau.org/ecrestftp/MountainStatistics.php" target="_blank">Click here for the latest stats.</a></p>
127576http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/201202/wc.jpgWolf Creek Ski AreaWolf Creek, CO
<p>Current base (mid-mountain): 77” <br>Annual snowfall average: 465” <br>Snow to date: 266”</p><p><a href="http://www.wolfcreekski.com/wolf-creek-snow-report.php" target="_blank">Click here for the snow report.</a></p>
127577http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/201202/timberline.jpgTimberline LodgeTimberline Lodge, OR
<p>Current base (mid-mountain): 117” <br>Annual snowfall average: 245” <br>Snow to date: 156”</p><p><a href="http://www.timberlinelodge.com/conditions/" target="_blank">Click here to see today's conditions report.</a></p>
Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:45:40 +0000kaoudis127561 at http://www.skinet.com/skiingFive Local Mountains you Should Ski Nowhttp://www.skinet.com/skiing/photo-gallery/five-local-mountains-you-should-ski-now?lnk=rss&loc=white-pass
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201201/skg0212_gem_3.jpg" alt="Magic Mountain: Truth in Advertising" title="" width="1000" height="667" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Alex Witkowicz</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Magic Mountain: Truth in Advertising</h4>
<div class="caption">It’s dark by the time I get home after a typical day of skiing in Vermont and a drive punctuated by snow turned sleet turned rain. This time I’m not just returning from a day of skiing, but a day dedicated to documenting, with my camera, a place I consider to be an archetype of skiing’s ideal: Magic Mountain.</div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201201/skg0212_gem_6.jpg" alt="Schweitzer Mountain: Ghost skiing, the Panhandle, and first-chair hangovers" title="" width="1000" height="664" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Re Wikstrom; skier Elyse Saugstad</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Schweitzer Mountain: Ghost skiing, the Panhandle, and first-chair hangovers</h4>
<div class="caption">Fog like this might make another resort skier shudder—not me, not at Schweitzer. When storms sock us in, freshly fattened with moisture from Lake Pend Oreille, the skiing only gets better, more personal. I call it ghost skiing—snorkeling around by Braille through the mossy pine glades of Schweitzer Mountain in a full whiteout of free refills and fir trees.</div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201201/skg0212_gem_4_r1.jpg" alt="June Mountain:Confessions of a Southern Sierra Powder Addict" title="" width="1000" height="1500" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Christian Pondella</span></div>
<h4 class="title">June Mountain:Confessions of a Southern Sierra Powder Addict</h4>
<div class="caption">There’s a historic low out over the Pacific, spinning the upper jet straight for the southern Sierra. On Mammoth Mountain, 24 hours into what will become another 10-day, 12-foot cycle, there’s already 18 inches of fresh on my deck. Everyone else charges straight into the eye of the thing. And here I am getting gas and a breakfast burrito and heading the other way.</div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201201/skg0212_gem_2_r1.jpg" alt="Monarch Mountain: Fair Trade Powder" title="" width="1000" height="1500" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Liam Doran</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Monarch Mountain: Fair Trade Powder</h4>
<div class="caption">I first discovered Monarch Mountain in the winter of 1995. I was on my annual pilgrimage from the Front Range to Crested Butte for its ski-for-free weekend when we pulled our old Subaru Outback, bottoming out under five ski buddies and gear, off U.S. Highway 50 into the area’s dirt parking lot for a pee break. <p>In the past, while driving toward the “real” ski areas of Colorado’s southwest, I had always dismissed Monarch as a beginner hill. But this time, favorable conditions prompted us to give this little mountain <br> a shot.</p></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201201/skg0212_gem_5_r1.jpg" alt="White Pass: All in the family" title="" width="1000" height="683" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Jason Hummel</span></div>
<h4 class="title">White Pass: All in the family</h4>
<div class="caption">I don’t actually remember my first day on skis but I know it was at White Pass. I probably skied with my dad, after a breakfast cooked by my grandma, on a run my grandpa—who worked at the ski area—helped maintain. White Pass isn’t just about skiing with family, White Pass is family. <p>From the beginning, that family included most of the employees and locals, so I always had a chaperone. Not the kind who said, “No, you can’t do that,” but rather, “Go out, have fun, be safe, see you at four.” With White Pass as my playground, I took full advantage.</p></div>
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http://www.skinet.com/skiing/photo-gallery/five-local-mountains-you-should-ski-now#commentsResortsSchweitzer MountainJuneMagic MountainMonarchWhite Passskiing127187http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/201201/skg0212_gem_6.jpg127193Schweitzer Mountain: Ghost skiing, the Panhandle, and first-chair hangovers
<p>Fog like this might make another resort skier shudder—not me, not at Schweitzer. When storms sock us in, freshly fattened with moisture from Lake Pend Oreille, the skiing only gets better, more personal. I call it ghost skiing—snorkeling around by Braille through the mossy pine glades of Schweitzer Mountain in a full whiteout of free refills and fir trees.</p> <p>Today you can taste the clouds. Eight inches fell overnight. Thanks to some ridgeline gusts, the bowls are filled in over-the-knee. I count the seconds between avy-bomb blasts along South Ridge. South Bowl will open with the lifts and I head there at first chair.</p> <p>As I drop solo into R-2 Chute, a rollover fall line that ends in a mini choke or 15-foot diving board, the face shots and haze mute my schoolgirl giggles but not the rumble of bombs from the back bowls. It’s still early. I can easily fit a couple more laps in before the next rope drop.</p> <p>As patrol flips the open sign on North Bowl, I watch less-seasoned Schweitzer skiers descend into the abyss of Lakeside Chutes—not enough trees for this soup—and I break for Big Timber. Snow stacks on this north-facing coaster thanks to the towering old-growths that act as a backstop to the wind. I knife between elephantine cedars, and dodge the occasional whumpf of powder cascading from the treetops.</p> <p>At the bottom of Chair 6, a fellow north Idaho expat home on vacation hops on the chair with me. We chat about the draw of the Panhandle. It’s not the powder or the absence of lift lines, but the intimate knowledge you get of every tree, powder stash, and deathtrap wind lip on the mountain during a foggy, flat-light day of Schweitzer glade laps.</p> <p>After the lifts close, I head to Taps Bar for a beer and watch two lifties go shot for shot with cheap whiskey. They slur about their day off tomorrow and first chair. I’d smirk, but they’re Panhandle dirtbag warriors. I’ll probably find them waiting in line when I show up at daybreak. By this point, the forecast has circulated: flurries spitting three to five overnight with peeking blue skies by midmorning. It won’t take much, especially if there’s sunshine.</p><p>Tomorrow will be all-time.-Kevin Luby</p> <p>Schweitzer Mountain: The gory details. » Average Snowfall: 300 inches » Skiable Acres: 2,900 » Vertical Feet: 2,400 » Advanced/Expert Terrain: 50% » Lift Ticket Price: $67 » Grub: Slices at Thor’s Pizza » Beer: The St. Bernard » Don’t Miss: Cat-skiing with Selkirk Powder Company » More Info: schweitzer.com</p>
Killer terrain, cold beer, and character the megaresorts can’t touch. These five local hills make up for every marketing dollar they lack with the stuff that really matters. Sounds like a fair trade to us.<div class="field field-type-nodereference field-field-pages">
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201201/skg0212_gem_3.jpg" alt="Magic Mountain: Truth in Advertising" title="" width="1000" height="667" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Alex Witkowicz</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Magic Mountain: Truth in Advertising</h4>
<div class="caption">It’s dark by the time I get home after a typical day of skiing in Vermont and a drive punctuated by snow turned sleet turned rain. This time I’m not just returning from a day of skiing, but a day dedicated to documenting, with my camera, a place I consider to be an archetype of skiing’s ideal: Magic Mountain.</div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201201/skg0212_gem_6.jpg" alt="Schweitzer Mountain: Ghost skiing, the Panhandle, and first-chair hangovers" title="" width="1000" height="664" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Re Wikstrom; skier Elyse Saugstad</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Schweitzer Mountain: Ghost skiing, the Panhandle, and first-chair hangovers</h4>
<div class="caption">Fog like this might make another resort skier shudder—not me, not at Schweitzer. When storms sock us in, freshly fattened with moisture from Lake Pend Oreille, the skiing only gets better, more personal. I call it ghost skiing—snorkeling around by Braille through the mossy pine glades of Schweitzer Mountain in a full whiteout of free refills and fir trees.</div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201201/skg0212_gem_4_r1.jpg" alt="June Mountain:Confessions of a Southern Sierra Powder Addict" title="" width="1000" height="1500" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Christian Pondella</span></div>
<h4 class="title">June Mountain:Confessions of a Southern Sierra Powder Addict</h4>
<div class="caption">There’s a historic low out over the Pacific, spinning the upper jet straight for the southern Sierra. On Mammoth Mountain, 24 hours into what will become another 10-day, 12-foot cycle, there’s already 18 inches of fresh on my deck. Everyone else charges straight into the eye of the thing. And here I am getting gas and a breakfast burrito and heading the other way.</div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201201/skg0212_gem_2_r1.jpg" alt="Monarch Mountain: Fair Trade Powder" title="" width="1000" height="1500" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Liam Doran</span></div>
<h4 class="title">Monarch Mountain: Fair Trade Powder</h4>
<div class="caption">I first discovered Monarch Mountain in the winter of 1995. I was on my annual pilgrimage from the Front Range to Crested Butte for its ski-for-free weekend when we pulled our old Subaru Outback, bottoming out under five ski buddies and gear, off U.S. Highway 50 into the area’s dirt parking lot for a pee break. <p>In the past, while driving toward the “real” ski areas of Colorado’s southwest, I had always dismissed Monarch as a beginner hill. But this time, favorable conditions prompted us to give this little mountain <br> a shot.</p></div>
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<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/201201/skg0212_gem_5_r1.jpg" alt="White Pass: All in the family" title="" width="1000" height="683" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Jason Hummel</span></div>
<h4 class="title">White Pass: All in the family</h4>
<div class="caption">I don’t actually remember my first day on skis but I know it was at White Pass. I probably skied with my dad, after a breakfast cooked by my grandma, on a run my grandpa—who worked at the ski area—helped maintain. White Pass isn’t just about skiing with family, White Pass is family. <p>From the beginning, that family included most of the employees and locals, so I always had a chaperone. Not the kind who said, “No, you can’t do that,” but rather, “Go out, have fun, be safe, see you at four.” With White Pass as my playground, I took full advantage.</p></div>
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gallery127191http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/201201/skg0212_gem_3.jpgAlex WitkowiczMagic Mountain: Truth in Advertising
<p>It’s dark by the time I get home after a typical day of skiing in Vermont and a drive punctuated by snow turned sleet turned rain. This time I’m not just returning from a day of skiing, but a day dedicated to documenting, with my camera, a place I consider to be an archetype of skiing’s ideal: Magic Mountain.</p> <p>In a culture blighted by helmet cameras, manufactured groomers, and five-star slopeside distractions, it’s tough to find a place like Magic. Tucked away in southern Vermont, it’s a rural New England paradise of winding, undisturbed trails that, save for the love of a diehard crew and a few nostalgics, is just a lonesome dot on a map. Many have written it off. But Magic is more.</p> <p>I arrived that morning to capture the essence of the place. I wanted a series of photographs to show what skiing is like beyond second homes and the latest TGR film. As I rolled into the parking lot, the surprising silence struck me. Absent were the yelling parking attendants and fleets of tour buses shuttling the disgruntled masses. Just me and a dozen cars parked at the foot of a rolling hill.</p> <p>Riding up the rusty red double, I found myself unable to put my camera down. Instinct drove me to take pictures of everything and anything that caught my eye. As I watched a few skiers trickle below and listened to an occasional whoop break the silence of Magic’s steep, hidden tree lines, the blunt hard truth hit me: Magic does not have much. It does not have the best skiing in the world, nor does it have the best snow or the best lifts or the best facilities. It does not fill any superlative category or grace any top-10 list.</p> <p>What Magic has, though, what it oozes in quantities that perpetual terrain expansions and desperate multimillion-dollar renovations can never buy, is easy to feel but hard to pin down. It’s a feeling you talk about but can’t quite convey. It’s a sensation you remember long after your boots dry out and the snow melts. It’s what you search for every time you click into your skis. It’s that raw, real, fleeting moment. It’s in the name. Magic has magic.</p> <p>Magic Mountain: Two lifts and sorcery. » Average Snowfall: 196 inches » Skiable Acres: 135 » Vertical Feet: 1,700 » Advanced/Expert Terrain: 37% » Lift Ticket Price: $39 » Open: Friday–Monday and any day with more than 6” fresh » Après: Goniff’s Den » Secret: Skin up and ski for free » More Info: magicmtn.com</p>
127193http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/201201/skg0212_gem_6.jpgRe Wikstrom; skier Elyse SaugstadSchweitzer Mountain: Ghost skiing, the Panhandle, and first-chair hangovers
<p>Fog like this might make another resort skier shudder—not me, not at Schweitzer. When storms sock us in, freshly fattened with moisture from Lake Pend Oreille, the skiing only gets better, more personal. I call it ghost skiing—snorkeling around by Braille through the mossy pine glades of Schweitzer Mountain in a full whiteout of free refills and fir trees.</p> <p>Today you can taste the clouds. Eight inches fell overnight. Thanks to some ridgeline gusts, the bowls are filled in over-the-knee. I count the seconds between avy-bomb blasts along South Ridge. South Bowl will open with the lifts and I head there at first chair.</p> <p>As I drop solo into R-2 Chute, a rollover fall line that ends in a mini choke or 15-foot diving board, the face shots and haze mute my schoolgirl giggles but not the rumble of bombs from the back bowls. It’s still early. I can easily fit a couple more laps in before the next rope drop.</p> <p>As patrol flips the open sign on North Bowl, I watch less-seasoned Schweitzer skiers descend into the abyss of Lakeside Chutes—not enough trees for this soup—and I break for Big Timber. Snow stacks on this north-facing coaster thanks to the towering old-growths that act as a backstop to the wind. I knife between elephantine cedars, and dodge the occasional whumpf of powder cascading from the treetops.</p> <p>At the bottom of Chair 6, a fellow north Idaho expat home on vacation hops on the chair with me. We chat about the draw of the Panhandle. It’s not the powder or the absence of lift lines, but the intimate knowledge you get of every tree, powder stash, and deathtrap wind lip on the mountain during a foggy, flat-light day of Schweitzer glade laps.</p> <p>After the lifts close, I head to Taps Bar for a beer and watch two lifties go shot for shot with cheap whiskey. They slur about their day off tomorrow and first chair. I’d smirk, but they’re Panhandle dirtbag warriors. I’ll probably find them waiting in line when I show up at daybreak. By this point, the forecast has circulated: flurries spitting three to five overnight with peeking blue skies by midmorning. It won’t take much, especially if there’s sunshine.</p><p>Tomorrow will be all-time.-Kevin Luby</p> <p>Schweitzer Mountain: The gory details. » Average Snowfall: 300 inches » Skiable Acres: 2,900 » Vertical Feet: 2,400 » Advanced/Expert Terrain: 50% » Lift Ticket Price: $67 » Grub: Slices at Thor’s Pizza » Beer: The St. Bernard » Don’t Miss: Cat-skiing with Selkirk Powder Company » More Info: schweitzer.com</p>
127194http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/201201/skg0212_gem_4_r1.jpgChristian PondellaJune Mountain:Confessions of a Southern Sierra Powder Addict
<p>There’s a historic low out over the Pacific, spinning the upper jet straight for the southern Sierra. On Mammoth Mountain, 24 hours into what will become another 10-day, 12-foot cycle, there’s already 18 inches of fresh on my deck. Everyone else charges straight into the eye of the thing. And here I am getting gas and a breakfast burrito and heading the other way.</p> <p>It’s Saturday morning, and despite drifting snow, chain laws, whiteout conditions, and indefinite weather holds on upper lifts, there will be more than 10,000 riders at Mammoth, all queueing up with varying degrees of civility and elbows for a brief shot at the fresh stuff. Half an hour up U.S. Highway 395, at June Mountain, there will be 750.</p> <p>There are seasons when the coverage just isn’t there, when the best things about June are the low-key atmosphere, the views, and the lift-assisted access to the backcountry. But on a storm day, when the steeps and glades of the lower-mountain Face are filled in and pillowy, there’s no better place to run a pair of fat boards.</p> <p>I pull into the lot just past eight and count the cars: 19. The only chair rising from the lot—good old J1—opens every day at 7:30 a.m. to shuttle people up for pancakes at the June Mountain Chalet and to reach the modern lifts serving the beginner and intermediate terrain from there to the summit. It takes 10 minutes for the rust-tinged center-poler to make the 1,200 vertical feet to the chalet, plenty of time to take stock of the Face’s untapped acreage passing beneath me.</p> <p>By 9 a.m., I’ve logged five laps. I stop counting. A friend from Mammoth arrives and another from Bridgeport. For variety’s sake, we make the long commute across the upper-mountain flats to the high-speed J7 lift but, in short order, tuck back down to the pitch under J1. From west to east we farm one fresh line after another.</p> <p>We take a leisurely lunch. There’s more snow than we can slice up in a single day. Over homemade fried chicken, pale ale, and a grand view of the clouds lifting over Mono Lake, we talk about the ugliness of powder addiction, about the ruthlessness required to get a fix on a day like today at Mammoth, and about the junkies up in Tahoe who’ve supposedly taken to camping out overnight to score first chair.</p> <p>The measure of a good powder day, we say to ourselves, righteously, is not only in the depth and quality of the substance, but in how easy it is to get—and how long it lasts.-David Page</p> <p>June Mountain: Small mountain, big skiing. » Average Snowfall: 250 inches » Skiable Acres: 500 » Vertical Feet: 2,590 » Advanced/Expert Terrain: 20% » Lift Ticket Price: $72 » Early Happy Hour: Antler Bar » Prime Rib: Carson Peak Inn » More Info: junemountain.com</p>
127195http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/201201/skg0212_gem_2_r1.jpgLiam DoranMonarch Mountain: Fair Trade Powder
<p>I first discovered Monarch Mountain in the winter of 1995. I was on my annual pilgrimage from the Front Range to Crested Butte for its ski-for-free weekend when we pulled our old Subaru Outback, bottoming out under five ski buddies and gear, off U.S. Highway 50 into the area’s dirt parking lot for a pee break.</p> <p>In the past, while driving toward the “real” ski areas of Colorado’s southwest, I had always dismissed Monarch as a beginner hill. But this time, favorable conditions prompted us to give this little mountain <br> a shot.</p> <p>Somewhere between cheap lift tickets, nine inches of fresh pow, nonexistent lift lines, and steep shots like Gunbarrel and High Anxiety that filled back in after every lap, I fell in love with Monarch Mountain. We ended the day in the Sidewinder Saloon, Monarch’s only bar, for an après-ski scene that embodied all of the comfort and camaraderie a down-home, slopeside watering hole should. Though I didn’t realize it then, that chance stop sold me on the beauty of Monarch and reminded me why I love skiing.</p> <p>Fast-forward 16 years, and nothing much has changed at Monarch. It now sports a terrain park and new steep lines and tree runs that came with the 130-acre expansion into Mirkwood Basin, but those improvements only built upon the fundamentals: deep snow, few crowds, and an unpretentious group of hardcore skiers and beginners alike.</p> <p>For me, however, everything has changed. I’ve traded road trips with my buddies for a family and a full-time job. But Monarch has stood by me throughout the transition and become my family’s weekend stomping ground. At Monarch, we can make turns with our kids or let our five-year-old ski with her friends without worrying. It’s the place where my wife or I can hammer out seven good laps on Elevation Ridge or ORCS while the rest of the family brown-bags it by the lodge’s fireplace. And though our après rounds now include hot chocolate, the Sidewinder is the place where we can finish the day as a family of skiers.</p> <p>In many ways, Monarch is like those 20-year-old gloves that, whatever the conditions, always stay warm and fit perfectly. They don’t have any flash or glitz or that fresh-off-the-rack smell, but they work flawlessly and are comfortable as hell.-Peter Scoville</p> <p>Monarch Mountain: More than a pretty butterfly. » Average Snowfall: 350 inches » Skiable Acres: 800 » Vertical Feet: 1,162 » Advanced/Expert Terrain: 58% » Lift Ticket Price: $57 » Grub: Amica Pizza &amp; Microbrewery in nearby Salida, Colorad » Bonus: A Monarch pass gets you free or discounted skiing at 27 areas » More Info: skimonarch.com</p>
127192http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/201201/skg0212_gem_5_r1.jpgJason HummelWhite Pass: All in the family
<p>I don’t actually remember my first day on skis but I know it was at White Pass. I probably skied with my dad, after a breakfast cooked by my grandma, on a run my grandpa—who worked at the ski area—helped maintain. White Pass isn’t just about skiing with family, White Pass is family.</p> <p>From the beginning, that family included most of the employees and locals, so I always had a chaperone. Not the kind who said, “No, you can’t do that,” but rather, “Go out, have fun, be safe, see you at four.” With White Pass as my playground, I took full advantage.</p> <p>It started with races down Creek Bed—a banked, winding gully that spilled out to Chair 4—mini cliff hucks below Mach V, and the bamboo slalom courses and kickers my cousins and I would set up under the night-skiing lights.</p> <p>As I grew, my days of exploring White Pass led to the discovery of tucked-away tree stashes, cliffs, pillow lines, and backcountry access. I began to see another shade of White Pass’s beauty: short lift lines, plentiful parking spaces and lodge tables, and freshies that linger in the trees long after the Cascade storm faucets turn off.</p> <p>Since those early days, I’ve watched the look of my mountain change. The lifts and lodge have been updated, and the demand for a larger area brought last season’s 767-acre expansion into the rolling glades that percolate down Hogback Basin. But White Pass, with its breathtaking view of Mount Rainier, has yet to attract the large-ski-area crowd or lose any of the vibe I remember.</p> <p>I travel the world, from hamlets in Europe to villages of subsistence farmers in India, to ski. But I always find myself coming back to White Pass to hike with my dog before the chairs open, lap the Basin quad with my nephew Kadyn, and film the backcountry with Nimbus Independent.</p> <p>Folks come to White Pass for the skiing. There isn’t a village full of restaurants, shops, bars, and hotels. Condo visitors must walk the cold concrete to the outdoor pool, and most of the parking is right along the highway. White Pass may be a bit old-fashioned, but its people don’t need much more than the freedom of the mountains as an excuse to spend time with the family.-Andy Mahre</p> <p>White Pass: Deep in wine country.</p> <p>» Average Snowfall: 380 inches » Skiable Acres: 1,500 » Vertical Feet: 2,050 » Advanced/Expert Terrain: 58% » Lift Ticket Price: $58 » Down Day: Wine tasting in the Yakima Valley. Try Thurston Wolfe and Wilridge vineyards. » More Info: skiwhitepass.com</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>
Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:49:11 +0000hhansman127187 at http://www.skinet.com/skiing